Changeable sign



H. B. GROSE L 2,056,574

CHANGEABLE SIGN Filed Feb. 12, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 R 1 Henry .5 6'10 6e Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES ATENT once Henry B. Grose, Augusta, Ga. Application February 12, 1935, Serial No. 6,205

4 Claims.

This invention relates to signs of the changeable type and one object of the invention is to provide a sign of such construction that it may be suspended upon a door or from a nail or similar support driven into a wall of a waiting room or entrance hall of an ofiice building and, when properly set, inform persons desiring to see the owner of the sign whether or not he is in and when he will return, if away.

a sign of this character which is compact in construction and neat in appearance.

- Another object of the invention is the provision of a changeable sign wherein the means for supplying the desired information consists of flat sided rollers which are rotatably mounted in a frame or'housing and'may be very easily turned to dispose selected faces outwardly, the rollers being also so mounted that they may be individually turned and when'so adjusted hold each other in adjusted positions by contact with certain of their flat faces with each other.

Another object of the invention is to permit the rollers to be easily removed from the frame in case it is desired to substitute others in place of those already in the frame. but prevent the'rollers from accidentally slippingout of the frame.

Another objectof the invention is to so construct the frame or housing of the device that ribbons wound-upon operating rollers and containing information may be very effectively guided from one roller to another .andportions of the ribbons displayed at the front of the frame.

. Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby slips of paper or the like containing special information may be securely held but easily removed when no longer needed and to also provide the housing or frame with containers whereby chalkand a sponge or equivalent erasing means may be kept for use in writing messages and erasing the messages after they have been read by the owner of the sign.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sign of such construction that changeable means may be associated with the front of the sign for composing messages and the back of the frame or housing have a permanent notice printed or otherwise provided thereon, thus permitting the sign to be used with either the permanent notice or a specially composed notice displayed.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a view showing the improved changeable sign in front elevation with portions broken away and shown in section.

Another object of the invention is to provide Figure 2 is a view looking at the rear of the changeable sign.

Figure 3 is a View taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and showing the sign partially in side elevation and partially in section.

Figure 4 is a section taken vertically through the sign along the line 4--4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the display rollers forming part of the sign.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified construction.

Figure 7 is a section taken along the line 1-1 of Figure 6.

This improved changeable sign has a housing I consisting of a rear wall 2 and side walls 3 projeoting forwardly from the rear wall at opposite sides thereof. The housing or frame is open at its front and has itslower portion divided into side sections or compartments by a partition 4 which extends vertically in the lower portion of the housing intermediate the width thereof. This partition 4 has its upper end united to a cross'strip or partition 5 extending transversely of the frame or housing between the sidewalls 3 which forms a bottom for the main compartment of the housing and a panel 6 is secured against the forward edge faces of the walls 3 and partitions 4 and 5 to close the lower side compartments at their fronts. This panel also provides a surface upon which messages may be written with chalk provided by the owner of the sign and placed in a compartment or receptable at the top of the housing. The chalk I and an erasing sponge 8 have been shown in the receptable at the upper end of the housing in Figures 1 and l and referring to these figures it will be .seen that the compartment' in which the chalk and sponge are placed is formed by a partition 9 extending transversely of the housing between the side walls 3 and a panel I 0 which also extends transversely of the housing'and constitutes a front wall for the upper compartment. Openings 'H and [2 are formed through the rear wall 2 and front wall In of the upper compartment to receive a nail driven into a door or wall and thus permit the sign to be suspended with either its front on display, as shown in Figure 1, or its rear face exposed toview, as shown in Figure 2. The rear face of the sign has a permanent message printed or otherwise provided thereon, as shown in Figure 2, and if the sign is used by a doctor, will state that the doctor is in his oflice.

When the owner of the sign is out of town or, for any other reason,- temporarily away from his office, the sign will be suspended with its front face on display and in order to impart the desired information there has been provided rotary members I3 which may be referred to as rollers, if so desired. These rotary members are preferably rectangular in cross section, although they may be of any desired shape which will provide a plurality of flat faces upon which information may be printed or otherwise provided as shown in Figures 1 and 5, and at their ends carry stems or pintles M. The rotary members extend transversely in the main compartment of the housing, one above another, and may have their pintles engaged in bayonet slots l5 formed in side Walls of the housing or seated in grooves I6 formed vertically in the inner side faces of the side walls and provided with entrances [1 formed in vertical spaced relation to each other, this latter formation being shown in Figures 6 and. '7. Attention is called to the fact that the entrances of the bayonet slots or grooves l6 are so spaced from each other that when the rotary members are in place their pintles will be intermediate the entrances and, therefore, the rotary members cannot accidentally slip forwardly through these entrances. Sufficient space is provided between the upper rotary member and the top of the main compartment to permit the rotary members to be shifted upwardly either for turning or to bring their pintles into position to pass through the entrances when it is desired to remove one or more of the rotary members and substitute others in place of those removed. If the side walls are formed with grooves l6 and entrances ll, short pintles will be used, but if the bayonet slots are formed in the side walls, the pintles will be of sufficient length to project from the side walls and carry turning knobs l8. It will, therefore, be seen that the rollers or rotary members l3 may be turned to dispose faces forwardly having desired information thereon, as shown in Figure 1, and indicate that the doctor or other owner of the sign is out of town and will return Friday, as shown in this figure. If the owner of the sign is out for lunch or for any other reason will be away for onlya short time, the rotary members will be set to impart this information. The flat-faces of the rotary members not only provide surfaces upon which the information may be easily written and clearly displayed, but also serve to prevent the rotary members from accidentally turning out of a set position. This is due tothe fact that the rotary members are'loose in the bayonet slots or grooves l6 and rest one upon another, as shown in Figure 4, and referring to this figue it will be seen that-as-these members have flat faces in contact with each other, they cannot accidentally turn after being set. g

It is sometimes desirable to not only indicate the day upon which the owner of the sign will return if he is to be out of town for some time, but also the date and thereby prevent a person misunderstanding the message. Therefore, the panel 6 is formed at the front of each of the lower side compartments with upper and low er slots l9 which are spaced vertically from each other a short distance and not only provide passages through which ribbons or flexible strips 20 may pass, but also define a backing strip 2! for each ribbon. Between the slots l9, the front or. outer face of the backing strip -2l has been slightly cut away, thus causing the portion of the ribbon passing across the front or outer face of the backing to beflush with the outer face of the panel 6 and prevent likelihood of accidental tearing of the ribbon. Rollers 22 and 23 having pintles at their ends extend transversely in the lower side compartments above and below the backing strips 2| with their pintles rotatably en gaged in the partition 4 and through openings formed in the side walls 3, the pintles passing through the side walls being provided with turning knobs 24 in order that the rollers may be easily rotated to move the flexible strips or ribbons 20 across the backing strips 2| as the ribbons are wound from one roller to another. It will thus be seen that when the ribbons are properly adjusted, the portions displayed at the front of the sign between the slots l6 will designate the 'date upon which the owner of the sign willreturn. It will be obvious that if so desired the ribbons instead of indicating the date of return may have other information printed thereon. r

In some instances it may be desired to leave a special message written upon a strip of paper 25 of sufiicient length to extend across the lower portion of the panel 6 with its ends folded rearwardly across the side Walls 3. Therefore, each side wall has secured thereto a clip 26 formed of resilient metal. These clips are disposed vertically across the side walls with their upper ends firmly secured thereto by small nails or equivalent fasteners and their lower ends free in order that the turned ends of the strip of paper may be engaged-between the clips and theside walls where they will be firmly gripped and the strip of paper carrying the special message securely held in place. When this sign is in use it is suspended from a nail or the like driven into a door or wall and if its rear face is on display, as shown in Figure 2, it will indicate that the doctor or other owner of the sign is in. If the owner of the sign has left his office the sign will be reversed to dispose the front face in view, as shown in Figure 1, and the rotary members and ribbons adjusted to indicate this fact and when he will probably return. Special messages may be written upon strips of paper and secured by the clips 26; A patient or other caller upon reading the sign will know when the doctor will return, and if the doctor is to be away for some time the caller may either follow the directions written upon the strip, of paper, or'if he merely desires to leave a message with the doctor, he may write this message upon the face of the panel 6 by means of the chalk which will be removed from the upper compartment. When the doctor returns and has read the messages written upon the face .of the panel 1, the sponge 8 may be used forerasing them. I have, therefore, provided a sign which is of a compact construction and may be very easily operated. I have further provided a sign of such construction that when the rotary members have been turnedto'display the desired information, they will be securely held in the adjusted positions and prevented from'accidentally turning.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: v

1. In a changeable sign, a frame defining a compartment open at its front and having side walls, the side walls being formed with seats extending vertically and having entrances opening through theforward edges of the side walls, rotary members extending transversely in said compartment, and pintles at'ends of said members engaged in said seats through the entrances thereof, the rotary members having'flat faces and the pintles being disposed out of alinement with the entrances of the seats when the rotary members are resting upon one another with certain of their fiat faces contacting.

2. In a changeable sign, a housing defining a chamber open at its front and having side walls, the side walls being formed with seats having entrances opening through the front edge faces of the side walls, and rotary members extending transversely in the compartment one above another and having pintles engaged in the seats through the entrances thereof, the rotary members being shiftable vertically in the compartment to move their pintles into and out of alinement with the entrances of the seats and when in place having contact one with another toprevent accidental rotation of the rotary members.

3. In a changeable sign, a frame having a rear wall, side walls, partitions extending transversely of the frame between the side walls in vertical spaced relation to each other, and a vertical partition extending between the lower horizontal partition and lower end of the frame, said partitions defining a main compartment, an upper compartment and lower side compartments below the main compartment, a panel extending between the side walls across the vertical partition and formed with vertically spaced slots extending from the outer face of the panel into the lower side compartments and defining backing strips between the slots, rollers rotatably mounted in the side compartments above and below the backing strips, and ribbons having data thereon fed through the slots and across the backing strips with their end portions wound upon said rollers, outer faces of the backing strips being countersunk relative to the outer face of the panel whereby portions of the ribbons extending across the backing strips will be flush with the outer face of the panel.

4. In a changeable sign, a frame defining a compartment having side walls, a panel forming a closure for its front, the panel having slots formed transversely therein in vertical spaced relation to each other and diverging inwardly to define a backing strip, the backing strip having its outer face countersunk relative to the outer face of the panel and its upper and lower faces sloping inwardly, rollers extending transversely in said compartment above and below the backing strip and rotatably mounted, and a ribbon having its intermediate portion extending across the outer face of the backing strip and through the slots and its end portions wound upon said rollers whereby the ribbon may be transferred from one roller to the other across the backing strip.

HENRY B. GROSE. 

